| Over
the past seven months, I have focused on four sets of activities - elaboration
of the theoretical framework for evaluation of peacebuilding practices,
document analysis, establishment of partnerships with local organizations
and field research. Elaboration
of the theoretical framework and document analysis
In
the period March 15 and May 15, I focused on the revision of the theoretical
framework for evaluation of peacebuilding, which i based on my master’s
project and integrated into the Course on Peacebuilding, which I taught
as part of the Peace Studies Program at the Center for Peace Studies.
The course provided me with opportunity to validate the evaluation criteria
on several case studies from the post-Yugoslav and worldwide practice
of peacebuilding. Together with my students, I have conducted the analysis
of the National Security Policy of the Republic of Croatia, from the peacebuilding
perspective.
I have also worked on two short articles in Croatian, which present the
framework for the purpose of two local publications (”Culture of
Peace” a journal of the Center for peace, Nonviolence and Human
Rights, Osijek (October 2002) and MIRamiDA peacebuilding manual, Center
for Peace Studies, Zagreb (pending). Based on my field research and document
analysis, in September, I submitted a case study on the Center for Peace,
Nonviolence and Human Rights to IPF, for the purpose of a UNDP publishing
project on best capacity building practices. Additional document analysis
has included background information on identified local practices and
relevant institutional frameworks, primarily in Kosovo.
Establishment
of partnerships with local organizations and field research
The
process of creating partnerships with more than a dozen local organizations
has been instrumental for present and future data collection. I have encountered
positive response from every organization which i approached, thanks to
past working relationships, good reputation of the Center for Peace Studies
, as well as most useful references by the staff of STAR Network of World
Learning, Kosovo and Melissa Stone, Good Governance Advisor in the Office
of Prime Minister, Kosovo. However, the process overlapped with field
research and technical assistance provided by me on several occasions,
requiring a high degree of flexibility and responsiveness (in terms of
tasks and time-frames) on my part.
Activities
in Croatia
In March 2002, I formalized my partnership with the Center for Peace,
Nonviolence and Human Rights Osijek, in particular with two peacebuilding
projects – “Volunteers in the Community-building and Peacebuilding
processes” (assisting eight communities in Eastern Slavonia and
Bosnian Posavina) and “Community-building and Peacebuilding in the
Municipality of Okucani” – to which I serve as external evaluator
and monitoring and evaluation consultant on an ongoing basis. Over the
past seven months, in addition to document analysis, I have made four
visits to Osijek (observation and input into the participatory process
of indicators’ definition for a school mediation project and a cross-border
youth peace camp; facilitation of participatory evaluation of two education
programs of local volunteers) and three visits to Okucani (observation
and input into the development of sets of indicators for two project components;
interviews with community leaders and war veterans). Both projects have
been identified as a key case study demonstrating successful peacebuilding
practices in the Croatian context.
In March, I also established ongoing collaboration with ZAMIRNET, a Croatian
NGO committed to the promotion of IT as a social change tool. As a monitoring
and evaluation consultant, I have engaged with ZAMIRNET’s project
in four post-war communities (Donji Lapac, Kistanje, Obrovac and Drnis)
which combines community activities for youth, women and war veterans
revolving around use of IT for economic empowerment and social integration
and technical assistance in areas of e-governance, citizen participation
and strategic planning to local authorities. This engagement has enabled
me to track various intertwined local initiatives with significant social
impact potential, which I plan to present as a case study in early 2003,
as enough time passes for their full establishment in the local communities.
So far I have conducted focus groups (3 per locality) and interviews with
local authorities and other civil initiatives in all four communities
(July 2002).
Three weeklong field visits have also enabled me to make contacts with
potential case studies in the region of Knin; in particular the municipality
of Biskupija, which is renowned for successful social integration of returning
Serbs, domicile Croats and new settlers from B-H. As part of that field
research, in early September, I attended a workshop for local volunteers
supported by the by the International Rescue Committee and interviewed
a local government official. I plan to follow on the contact with Danish
Relief Service, Belgrade, which organizes preparation site visits of potential
returnees to the communities covered by my research in Lika and Dalmatia
(ready for final draft).
In late August, I started negotiating a partnership with the Center for
Education and Counseling of Women (CESI) to assist them in the evaluation
process of their support to women’s initiatives in three post-war
communities in the region of Banija (Gvozd, Dvor, Vojnic), which will
take place in January 2003. I hope to include at least one of these initiatives
as a case study for my research paper (ready for final draft).
In the period May-June 2002, with assistance of two action researchers
from the Center for Peace Studies (Jasmina Papa Stubbs and Andrijana Paric)
I have conducted an evaluation of the community development project Prijatelj,
located in a poor neighborhood of Zagreb, which aims to enhance social
cohesion and quality of life of youth from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds
(Roma, Bosnian Croat settlers, former Muslim refugees, impoverished domicile
working class children, Albanian settlers). This case study will serve
as a control case of a project that does not make its peacebuilding mission
explicit.
I have established contact and started negotiating collaboration with
Kruno Kurdov, ethnographic researcher (affiliated with the Department
of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb) based in Vukovar,
with whom I plan to collaborate on the analysis of the institutional framework
for peacebuilding in Croatia and on a case study of grassroots peace initiatives
in Vukovar (ready for final draft).
Activities
in Serbia
In April and May 2002, I established contacts with Gradjanske inicijative
(various projects in Southern Serbia), MOST (peace education projects),
Center for Nonviolent Action - CNA (a project entailing a series of round
tables presenting multiple experiences of war from the perspective of
war veterans of Yugoslav Army, Croatian Army and B-H Army) and B92 Documentation
Center (focused on collecting documents and opening dialogue on truth
and reconciliation). All four organizations are willing to cooperate with
me regarding my research. I am currently making a final decision on two
Serbia case studies, which I plan to cover in the period November 10,
2002 - January 31, 2003. I will most probably collaborate with Gradjanske
inicijative and CNA, while B92 work will be covered in the context of
a Kosovo case study on independent media/youth peace initiatives, where
B92 is a partner to a local radio station URBAN FM.
Activities
in B-H
I have made arrangements with long-term partners of the Center for Peace
Studies - Human Rights Office Tuzla, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly
Banja Luka and Youth Center Gornji Vakuf/Uskoplje to have access to their
project documentation and opportunity to conduct follow-up research to
my previous evaluation activities with these organizations. Follow-up
research will take place in the period November 1 – January 31,
2002.
I have also started negotiations with the Swedish women-focused organization
Kvinna Till Kvinna to conduct external evaluation (jointly with IPF 2001
fellow Aida Bagic) of their B-H partners, focusing on those women’s
initiatives, which have significantly contributed to the local peacebuilding
processes. The evaluation would take place in the period December 1- January
31, 2003.
I plan to establish contact with a community gardens’ initiative,
supported by American Friends’ Service Committee (AFSC), bringing
together citizens of Sarajevo (of different ethnicities) in an endeavor
to improve their quality of life and public/community spaces.
Activities
in Kosovo
Thanks to previously arranged cooperation with STAR Network of World Learning
Program in Kosovo and Community Building Mitrovica (sponsored by IKV Holland),
I had opportunity to spend a total of five weeks in Kosovo (January, April
and September) and establish a broad range of contacts both at the policy
and community levels. Thus, I have managed to identify and collect initial
data on several case studies for my research (Community Building Mitrovica
– a support program for a range of local initiatives with a peacebuilding
potential; NORMA (women’s legal center)’s multiethnic project
with informal and formal women’s groups; Kosovo Women’s Network
Rjette and their process of opening to minority women’s groups paralleled
by the self-organization and cross-ethnic cooperation activities of Serbian
women’s organizations; URBAN FM’s Peace Train Project and
media networking with B92; Mobile Containers’ project in Mitrovica).
I have also conducted a dozen interviews with key Provisional Government
and UNMIK officials engaged in return and minority integration processes,
as well as a broad range of other stakeholders (OSCE, Council of Europe,
local and Kosovo-wide media representatives etc.) As a follow-up to a
two-week long September field research, I plan to spend another two weeks
in Kosovo in November in order to collect additional data on identified
case studies. There is a possibility of direct cooperation with UNMIK’s
Office for Return and Communities on tracking a social integration progress
in a specific community which has been prioritized by UNMIK as a return
area, which would enable me to clearly delineate value added by existence
of community-based, locally-driven peacebuilding initiatives to the sustainability
of the return process.
Challenges
Previous
consulting arrangements with STAR Network of World Learning (monitoring
and evaluation assistance, programming and organization support to an
international women’s conference), which I announced to IPF Assistant
Coordinators, combined with teaching at the peace studies Course at the
Center for Peace Studies in Zagreb, slowed down my field research activities
in the period March 15 – June 1. At the same time, the opportunity
to visit Kosovo in April (as a follow-up to my January visit) proved invaluable
in terms of creating contacts for my extremely intense and fruitful field
research in September. The peace studies Course proved valuable for the
elaboration and validation of my theoretical framework. During the Summer
period (June 15- August 20), I managed to conduct filed research in Croatia
but was somewhat hindered by initial burn-out (due to extremely intense
work in Spring) and summer holidays in August.
In addition, due to the partnership approach which is a basis for my “entry”
into different organizations, I am committed to meeting specific needs
for technical assistance requested by different organizations (facilitation
of planning and evaluation processes; document reviews, training in monitoring
and evaluation), which means that some of my time needs to be spent in
that manner. Nevertheless, such two-way collaboration has enabled me to
create extremely trusting relationships and access otherwise unavailable
information about internal processes and personal perceptions of local
peacebuilding actors.
The main challenge of identifying sustained peacebuilding initiatives
carried out by local actors - the impact of which can be outlined –
remains and is particularly acute y in Kosovo, the social and political
space of which is saturated by international actors. Nevertheless, this
challenge presents interesting issues to be discussed about local capacity
building in my research and policy papers.
Plans
for the Upcoming Period
October
– field visit to Okucani (Oct 13); complete draft policy paper (by
Oct 20); attend IPF seminar (Oct 20 – 27); follow-up with Croatian
policy-making institutions and access relevant documentation; arrange
field trips to B-H, Kosovo and Serbia for the upcoming months.
November – field visits to Osijek and Vukovar (Nov
4-6); field visits to Kosovo and Southern Serbia (Nov 10 – 25);
document analysis of Croatian institutional mechanisms and possible creation
of a survey on peacebuilding to be administered to local NGOs electronically
(Nov 25-30).
December – document analysis on institutional frameworks
in Croatia and B-H (Dec 1- 8); peacebuilding workshop for Croatian activists
and educators (December 6-8); field visit to B-H (Dec 9 – Dec 22);
document and field notes analysis (Dec 22- 31).
January – holidays (Jan 1- 10); field research in Croatia (Jan 10
– 20); field research in B-H (Jan 20-25), writing (Jan 25-31).
February – final research paper and policy paper
preparation, outreach planning (with additional field research, if necessary).
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